{"id":4241,"date":"2004-06-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1970-01-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lesliedinaberg.com\/wordpress\/?p=4241"},"modified":"2018-01-10T13:36:27","modified_gmt":"2018-01-10T21:36:27","slug":"raising-helen-diverting-if-not-demanding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lesliedinaberg.com\/wordpress\/?p=4241","title":{"rendered":"Raising Helen diverting if not demanding"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Raising<\/a>

Raising Helen movie poster<\/p><\/div>\n

The spirit of summer reruns spreads to the multiplex with Raising Helen<\/em><\/a>, a creampuff of a movie we’ve seen before (Baby Boom, Step Mom) and will most certainly see again (the new TV series “Summerland”).<\/p>\n

It’s an enjoyable enough version of a coming of age story: self-involved, career focused woman has children (usually via a tragic death, as is the case in Raising Helen), resists changing her life, takes some missteps, figures out what she’s doing, then grows up and redeems herself in the end. Though the story is familiar, it’s one that will resonate with any woman who’s ever had children and realized that she went into the hospital (or the court room, or the adoption agency, or the lawyer’s office) a woman and came out a mom.<\/p>\n

Kate Hudson is certainly a charming heroine, although I couldn’t help wondering what her underused costars Joan Cusack and Felicity Huffman (as her older, smarter and much taller sisters) would have done with the meatier role. Hayden Panettiere, Spencer Breslin and Abigail Breslin give decent performances as the three children Hudson inherits, but John Corbett is miscast (too old and not hot enough or witty enough to compensate) as her romantic interest, Pastor Dan.<\/p>\n

While Raising Helen<\/em>\u00a0lacks any kind of freshness beyond Hudson’s smile, and a scene that will be cheered by Devo fans everywhere, it’s still a pleasant enough trifle for a hot summer night.<\/p>\n

Originally published in South Coast Beacon on June 10, 2004.<\/a><\/h6>\n

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